Checked 25 September 2026. Rules from KUK's Handbook of Information 2026 (chapters 5 and 6), unchanged from 2025. Candidate counts are the last serial number on each 2026 result list (absentees included); KUK publishes no cut-offs.
At Kurukshetra University your rank for a PG seat comes from one number: merit points. For most programmes that is simply your entrance-test marks out of 100, plus up to 5 weightage marks for NCC, NSS, Youth Red Cross or a youth-festival prize. Your graduation marks do not count towards merit: they decide eligibility, and they rank you only in programmes where no test is held. Ties are broken on Class 12 marks, then Class 10, then age. MBA and M.A. Music add a group discussion, interview or practical. This guide sets out the formula, the weightage table, the tie-break, the rule that cancels a test when too few people apply, and what the 2026 result lists show about competition.
KUK Handbook of Information 2026, chapters 5–6; KUK notice of 24 Jun 2025.
The merit formula
| Programme | Merit points |
|---|---|
| M.A., M.Sc., M.Com, M.Lib., MSW, MTTM, MHM&CT, MFA, MCA, LL.B., LL.M., B.Ed./M.Ed. Special Education | Entrance-test marks + weightage |
| MBA (Budgeted) and MBA (SFS) | Test 80% + group discussion 10% + interview 10% + weightage; four times the seats are called for GD/PI (Handbook pp. 9–10) |
| M.A. Music | Test 80% + 20-minute performance practical 20% + weightage (Handbook p. 10) |
| B.P.Ed., M.P.Ed. | Qualify the Physical Efficiency Test, then test marks + sports weightage |
| M.Pharmacy | Valid GPAT scores first; remaining seats on test marks + weightage |
| M.Tech. | Valid GATE scores first; remaining seats on qualifying-exam marks + weightage |
| PG Diplomas, diplomas, certificates | Qualifying-exam marks + weightage |
Handbook 2026, clauses 6.1–6.7. Graduation marks decide eligibility and are used only where the test is not held or its candidates run out (clauses 6.10, 6.13, 6.14).
Weightage marks
| Certificate | Weightage |
|---|---|
| NCC "B" | 3 |
| NCC "C" or "G-II" | 5 |
| NSS certificate of merit (university) | 5 |
| Youth Red Cross merit certificate | 5 |
| 1st or 2nd at an inter-zonal, inter-university or inter-state youth festival | 5 |
| Maximum from this list | 5 in all |
Handbook 2026, chapter 5. B.P.Ed./M.P.Ed. use a separate sports weightage — international position 25, international participation 20, senior national 1st/2nd/3rd 18/16/15, All-India Inter-University or Khelo India University Games 15/13/11, zonal inter-university 8/7/6 — with only the highest counting. For one-year Master's (lateral entry), KUK and KUK-college graduates get 5.
Five marks sounds small, but on a 100-mark paper it is the same as two and a half correct answers. In a crowded paper like MCA or LL.B., where hundreds of candidates sit, that can be the difference between the first list and the waiting list. If you hold one of these certificates, make sure it is on your application.
Your merit points
Enter your entrance marks (out of 100) and pick your best weightage certificate. For MBA, also enter your group discussion and interview marks as percentages.
KUK Handbook 2026, chapters 5 and 6. Weightage is capped at 5 marks in all, so MBA and Music merit can reach 105. Ties: higher Class 12 percentage, then Class 10, then the older candidate. B.P.Ed./M.P.Ed. use a separate sports weightage (up to 25).
Ties
When two candidates have the same merit points
- First, the higher total percentage or CGPA in Class 12.
- Then the higher total in Class 10.
- Then the older candidate (date of birth).
Handbook 2026, clause 6.17; the 2025 Handbook has the same rule. MDU Rohtak, by contrast, breaks ties on age alone.
When no test is held
Rule 6.13 is the one most students have never heard of. If a programme with an intake of 30 or fewer gets fewer than 1.5 applicants per seat, or a larger programme gets 1.25 or fewer per seat, "entrance test will not be conducted and admission shall be done on the basis of merit of the qualifying examination". In 2025 KUK used it for 23 programmes — among them M.A. Education, Women's Studies, Defence Studies, JMC, Philosophy, Yoga, Business Economics, AIH, Punjabi, Sanskrit and Sociology; M.Sc. Mass Communication, Printing, Human Development, Electronics, Statistics, Biochemistry and Applied Geophysics; M.Ed. Special Education, MTTM, MHM&CT, M.Lib. (1-year) and MFA.
Will there be an entrance test? (rule 6.13)
KUK does not hold the test when too few people apply. Enter a programme's sanctioned intake and the number of applicants.
KUK Handbook 2026, rule 6.13 (6.15 in 2025). Applicant totals are not published; KUK decides after the application window closes and issues a notice, as it did for 23 programmes on 24 Jun 2025.
For 2026 we did not find an equivalent notice. The 2026 merit lists for several programmes — M.A. Philosophy, Sanskrit, Women's Studies, Public Administration and Music, MHM&CT, MTTM and M.Sc. Statistics, Printing and Geophysics — print decimal merit points and no roll-number column, which looks like qualifying-exam merit, but that is our reading of the lists, not a KUK statement. The practical lesson: apply anyway, and apply on time. In a programme where the test is dropped, your graduation percentage becomes your merit.
How many candidates each 2026 paper drew
Candidates listed = the last serial number on each 2026 entrance-result list, including those marked absent, so fewer actually sat. Seats = 2-year sanctioned intake. MCA and M.Sc. CS sat one common test but KUK published a separate result list for each. Read from the result PDFs on the IUMS portal.
Two things stand out. The crowded papers were MCA, MBA (Budgeted), M.A. Psychology, M.A. Political Science, M.Sc. Zoology and LL.M. — four to five candidates listed per seat — with LL.B. at about three. And several large science and commerce programmes drew barely more candidates than seats: M.Com had 144 for 130 and M.Sc. Mathematics 189 for 150, and on 4 September 2026 Mathematics still had 39 seats vacant. In those programmes the realistic question is not whether you rank but whether you apply, appear and turn up for the lists.
Score levels in the lists we could read
| List (2026) | Listed | Sat (absent) | Top | Median | At position = seats | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M.Sc. Environmental Science | 61 | 37 (24) | 64 | 38 | Fewer took the test (37) than seats (40) | 22 |
| M.Pharmacy — Pharmacology | 92 | 78 (12) | 78 | 50 | #12 → 60 | 30 |
| M.Pharmacy — Pharmaceutical Chemistry | 47 | 41 (5) | 78 | 50 | #9 → 56 | 30 |
Marks out of 100 from the 2026 result lists that could be read in full (a native-text PDF, and two lists where at least 97% of rows parsed). They are not closing scores: M.Pharmacy seats go to GPAT holders first, and reservation, weightage and no-shows move the real last admission. Other lists are scans we could not read reliably, so we quote nothing from them. No names are reproduced.
Notice what the Environmental Science list says: 24 of 61 listed candidates did not turn up. With that many absentees, sitting the paper at all already put a candidate ahead of two in five of the list.
KUK and MDU compared
| Point | KUK Kurukshetra | MDU Rohtak |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | 50 questions × 2 marks, 1 hour | 100 questions × 1 mark, 75 minutes |
| Negative marking | None | None |
| Merit | Test + up to 5 weightage; MBA +GD/PI; Music +practical | Test score only (sports weightage for B.P.Ed./M.P.Ed.) |
| Test dropped if few apply | Yes (rule 6.13) | No such rule |
| Tie-break | Class 12, then Class 10, then age | Older candidate |
| Allotment | Portal lists, document check in the department, online fee; open counselling at the end | Physical counselling rounds in the department |
| Published after the test | Answer keys | Question booklets and answer keys |
From the KUK Handbook 2026 (clauses 3.1, 6.1–6.21) and the MDU PG Prospectus 2026-27 (merit, tie-break, counselling and seat-distribution sections). Both split seats 15% all-India and 85% Haryana.
Where other pages get this wrong
KUK allots PG seats through merit lists on its portal, with document checks in each department, not a centralised counselling.
Commonly published instead: "PG admission followed by centralised counselling" with "three rounds of counselling".
The 2026 Handbook sets out a First List, a Second List, a Final List after online attendance, and subsequent lists; vacancies then go to fresh-application rounds and an open counselling held separately in each department.
Practise it, don't just read it
Merit here is almost entirely your test score, so every correct answer is two merit points. Timed practice is where they come from.
The ProSyllabus KUK PG entrance library has practice quizzes for English, Commerce, Economics, History and Chemistry, each with an AI analysis of what you got wrong.
How is the KUK PG merit list prepared?
On merit points: entrance-test marks plus up to 5 weightage marks. MBA uses test 80%, GD 10% and interview 10%; M.A. Music adds a 20% practical.
Are graduation marks counted in the KUK merit?
No, except where no test is held or the test candidates run out; then admission is on qualifying-exam merit.
What is weightage in KUK admission?
Extra marks for NCC B (3), NCC C (5), NSS merit (5), Youth Red Cross merit (5) or a youth-festival 1st/2nd (5), up to 5 in all.
What is the KUK cut-off for M.A. English?
KUK publishes no cut-offs. In 2026 the M.A. English paper listed 308 candidates for 120 seats.
How does KUK break a tie in merit?
Higher Class 12 percentage, then Class 10, then the older candidate.
When does KUK not conduct the entrance test?
When applicants are fewer than 1.5 times the seats (intake up to 30) or at most 1.25 times (larger intakes); admission is then on qualifying-exam merit.
How many candidates appear in the KUK MCA entrance?
In 2026 the MCA result list of the common MCA/M.Sc. CS test had 593 candidates, including absentees, for 120 seats; the M.Sc. CS list had 169 for 60.
What is a good score in the KUK PG entrance?
It depends on the paper. In the two readable M.Pharmacy lists of 2026, the candidate at the position equal to the seats scored 56–60 out of 100 and the median was 50.
Is there an interview for KUK MBA?
Yes. Four times the seats are called for a group discussion and interview, each worth 10% of merit.
Does KUK publish a cut-off list?
No. It publishes result lists and category-wise merit lists, not cut-offs.
Sources
- official — KUK — Handbook of Information 2026, PG programmes of University Teaching Departments (HBI-UTD-PG-26)
- official — KUK — Handbook of Information 2025 (UTDs)
- official — KUK — non-conduct of entrance test for 23 PG programmes 2025-26 (24 Jun 2025)
- official — KUK — IUMS admission portal (results, answer keys, syllabi, merit lists)
- official — KUK — admission against vacant seats, PG and PG Diploma, Round 2 (7 Aug 2026)
- official — MDU Rohtak — PG Prospectus 2026-27 (for the comparison)
- reported — Careers360 — KUK admission (reported; see corrections)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
